Riots in Kenya after cleric, 3 others, killed

Kenyan security officers detain young men as rioting breaks out following the slayings in Mombasa.

Photo: Ivan Lieman / Getty Images

NAIROBI, Kenya — Gunmen killed a Muslim cleric and three others in the port city of Mombasa, a year after the imam's predecessor was killed in the same manner at nearly the same spot.

The killings triggered street violence Friday by youths who blamed police for the homicides, and four more people were killed in the mayhem.

The cleric's supporters alleged the shooting death late Thursday of Sheik Ibrahim Ismael was a reprisal by Kenyan security forces for the Sept. 21 attack on Nairobi's Westgate Mall that killed more than 60 people.

Ismael's predecessor at the Masjid Musa Mosque, who was gunned down in August 2012, had been accused of aiding al-Shabab, including recruiting youths for the Somali group.

“While it's possible the timing is linked, the pattern of targeted killings and disappearances in Mombasa long predates Westgate. What's clear is that a serious independent investigation of yesterday's killing and earlier attacks on Aboud Rogo and others is urgently needed to answer the many questions about these attacks,” Leslie Lefkow, an Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch said.

The car that Ismael was riding in was riddled by bullets. People gathered around, taking photographs and staring at the bodies as weeping relatives of the dead approached.

Police spokeswoman Gatiria Mboroki denied that police had any involvement in the killings.

“We are investigating who did this and what the motive is because we don't know,” she said.

Human rights groups estimate Kenyan police were responsible for about 1,000 extrajudicial killings between 2008 and 2012, the U.S. State Department says.

“Members of the security forces were suspected of being responsible for a number of forced disappearances. At least a half-dozen prominent Muslim leaders alleged to have terrorist ties were victims of killings or forced disappearances,” the State Department said in its annual report on human rights.

Young men Friday partly burned the Salvation Army Church and put burning tires on the road.